Tag: Ministry of Justice

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 7 May 2026.

The Lord Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister, Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals have reappointed Sir Richard Broadbent as Chair of the Board of HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) for 1 year until 30 April 2027.

The HMCTS Board is responsible for overseeing the leadership and direction of HMCTS and plays a vital role in making sure the organisation effectively delivers the aims and objectives set by the Lord Chancellor, the Lady Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals.

Biography

Sir Richard Broadbent was appointed Chair of the HMCTS Board on 1 May 2023.

He spent fifteen years working at senior levels in business, serving as Chairman of Arriva plc, Tesco plc, Deputy Chairman of Barclays plc and, in the public sector, as Chairman of HM Customs and Excise.

Prior to this, he spent fifteen years working in the City as a corporate adviser and subsequently a Managing Director at Schroders plc. He began his career in the Treasury and subsequently attended Stanford Business School as a Harkness Fellow.

He has also worked in academia, the third sector and manages a small business in farming.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 7 May 2026.

The Lord Chancellor has approved the appointments, for 3 years, of Sanaz Saifolahi, Jennifer McCarthy and Peace Egbulefu as members of the Tribunal Procedure Committee.

Sanaz Saifolahi’s tenure will start on 1 June 2026. The tenures of Jennifer McCarthy and Peace Egbulefu will commence on 3 July 2026.

Sanaz Saifolahi

Sanaz Saifolahi is a barrister specialising in immigration, asylum, human rights and public law. In addition, Ms Saifolahi also delivers training on all aspects of immigration and asylum law.

In 2024, Ms Saifolahi was appointed as a Legal Aid Review Panel Member for a 5-year term. In 2026, Ms Saifolahi was appointed by The Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service as a disciplinary panel member, also to sit as a Inns’ Conduct Committee panel member for a 3-year term. She has declared no political activity.

Jennifer McCarthy

Ms McCarthy is a specialist Employment Law Solicitor who has been representing clients on complex matters in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal for over 25 years. She is also an accredited Mediator. She has declared no political activity.

Peace Egbulefu

Ms Egbulefu is a senior legal professional with over ten years’ experience working across disputes, civil and criminal procedure, and tribunal practice. She is a qualified Solicitor Advocate with experience across administrative law, procedural compliance, and complex multi-party proceedings, and brings active engagement with digitalisation and access to justice initiatives to the Committee. She has declared no political activity.

The TPC was established by the Tribunals, Courts, and Enforcement Act 2007 (TCEA). It makes rules governing the practice and procedure in the First-tier Tribunal, the Upper Tribunal, and the Employment Tribunals.

These appointments are made under the TCEA and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Recruitment processes comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 1 May 2026.

His Majesty the King, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, has approved the appointments of 6 new Commissioners of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The appointments are for 3 years from 7 April 2026 to 6 April 2029. Details of the new Commissioners are provided below.  

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) was established by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 and commenced operation in 1997. The CCRC considers – on application – cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland where a miscarriage of justice is alleged or suspected. The CCRC decides if there is any new evidence or new argument which raises a real possibility that an appeal court would quash a conviction or reduce a sentence.

The appointment of CCRC Commissioners is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and recruitment and reappointment processes comply with the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Appointments of CCRC Commissioners are made by His Majesty the King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, who receives advice from the Lord Chancellor.

Biographies

• Joelle Black is a practising barrister in Northern Ireland with specialist experience in independent decision making in domestic and international criminal justice. She has an extensive background in criminal law from both her tenure as prosecutor at various levels within the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland, and her current private practice wherein she specialises in judicial review in a criminal context.
• Maxine Cole is a Solicitor-Advocate with an LLM in Criminal Justice and over 20 years practising criminal law. A former Senior Crown Prosecutor and Police Lawyer, she serves as a Tribunal Member of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and sits as a Deputy Chairman/Fee paid Tribunal Judge and Chair of a Fitness to Practice Panel.
• Jared Ficklin is a Manchester based barrister with a background mainly in immigration and asylum law. He currently sits in the First tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and the Employment Tribunal. He was previously  a lecturer at the University of Liverpool Law Clinic.
• Andrew Hoyle is dual qualified as a registered doctor and a practising barrister, called to the bar in 2006, specialising in medical law, clinical negligence and professional regulatory law. He is an Assistant Director in Fitness to Practise at the General Medical Council where he leads the statutory decision makers who determine, at the end of the GMC’s investigation, whether a case closes or goes forward to a fitness to practise tribunal.
• James Lucas is a registered medical practitioner and previously practised as an expert witness in the criminal justice system.  He has held roles across academia, the public and private sectors, and currently sits as a medical member in the tribunals arena.
• Martha Spurrier is a barrister and policy expert specialising in human rights at Doughty Street Chambers. From 2016 – 2024 Martha was the Director of Liberty, the UK’s leading human rights advocacy organisation. She is a Visiting Professor of Law at Goldsmiths University, a Trustee of the Museum of Homelessness and an Editorial Board Member of the European Human Rights Law Review.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 16 April 2026.

Specialist staff, tougher disciplinary action and bolstered security measures will be deployed at HMP Woodhill to reduce violence, combat drugs and improve safety.

• Action plan to target violence, drugs and poor conditions at Buckinghamshire jail.
• Extra staff support, training and security measures to help stabilise the prison
• Education, rehabilitation and preparation for release to be strengthened

The Government has launched a comprehensive action plan to address serious failings at the jail after His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) issued an Urgent Notification in March.

Inspectors found high levels of violence, with drugs far too easily available and some of the highest rates of self-harm in the estate.

In response, Ministers have acted to roll out a comprehensive plan to improve safety and conditions, strengthen staff capability and deliver better outcomes for prisoners.

This includes a new safety strategy to better spot and support those at risk of self-harm, while stronger security measures including new physical barriers such as wires and window grilles will be installed to stop the flow of illicit items using drones. 

Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord James Timpson, said:

The prison crisis we inherited has left too many jails struggling with violence, drugs and poor conditions.

This action plan sets out the decisive steps we are taking to improve safety, tackle drugs and drones, and get more prisoners into the education and training they need to leave crime behind.

We are putting more staff on the ground and backing HMP Woodhill with the investment it needs to improve, as we continue to fix the broken prison system we inherited to deliver punishment that works to cut crime.

A new living unit will also be introduced – where offenders are incentivised to keep off substances  – helping reduce the demand for drugs. This is in addition to recruitment of specialist staff dedicated to supporting prisoners dealing with addiction.

The action plan also sets out refurbishments and a renewed focus on cleanliness to improve conditions. Meanwhile rehabilitation efforts will be strengthened through greater access to the education and work opportunities offenders rely on to turn their lives around.

A new governor appointed in 2025 has already begun work to stabilise HMP Woodhill, supported by regional and national teams, including a dedicated taskforce focused on improving performance across the Long Term and High Security Estate.

More widely, the Government is building 14,000 extra prison places – with more than 3100 already delivered – and reforming sentencing to ensure punishment cuts crime and dangerous can always be locked up to keep streets safe.

Notes to editors

• The Urgent Notification process was introduced in 2017 to ensure immediate action is taken to address the most serious concerns identified by inspectors.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 16 April 2026.

Victims across London will see justice delivered faster and fairer as Harrow Crown Court reopens in a major Government drive to cut court backlogs.

• £26m cash boost brings Harrow Crown Court back after three‑year RAAC shutdown
• Eight courtrooms set to hear cases as Government looks to cut criminal backlogs
• Part of the Government’s plan to deliver faster and fairer justice for victims across London

Thousands of victims across London will see justice delivered faster and fairer as the RAAC‑hit Harrow Crown Court reopens in a major Government drive to cut court backlogs. 

Eight courtrooms, with some newly refurbished, are back in action following a £26 million safety overhaul, after the building was forced to shut in August 2023 amid fears over crumbling concrete. 

Before it was forced to shut, the court was handling hundreds of cases a year. Bringing it back at full strength will supercharge capacity for criminal trials, easing pressure on neighbouring courts and helping to get dangerous criminals locked up sooner. 

This week the Courts Minister, Sarah Sackman, visited the newly reopened site — a modernised court building fitted with the latest technology and designed to deliver faster, fairer and more transparent justice. 

The move comes against a stark backdrop, with the latest figures showing some London victims — particularly in rape cases — are waiting until 2030 for their day in court, while more than 19,000 cases are currently awaiting trial across the capital.

Minister for Courts and Legal Services Sarah Sackman KC said:  

We inherited a justice system in crisis — backlogs at record levels, courts left to crumble, and victims waiting far too long for justice. 

Reopening Harrow Crown Court is a major boost to London’s overstretched court system, cutting delays and getting justice moving again for Londoners.

Built in 1991, the court was closed after RAAC was uncovered and the building deemed unsafe. Its reopening marks a key milestone in the Government’s drive to modernise courts and bring cases to court faster in the capital. 

Wheelchair accessible and equipped with the latest courtroom technology, the hearing rooms are greener, more efficient and flexible enough to handle a wide range of cases — maximising the number of hearings that can take place each day. 

London Victims Commissioner Andrea Simon said:  

Victims are waiting years for their day in court, and even when they get there are often faced with a difficult and trauma-inducing experience. 

The re-opening of Harrow Crown Court not only brings some capacity back into the system, but the investment in modernising the court will I hope lead to a better and more supportive experience for victims. 

The Government also invested £148.5 million in court maintenance funding last year, with a further £287 million this year to repair and modernise courts across England and Wales, alongside recruiting up to 1,000 new judges and tribunal members to speed up cases and deliver fairer, faster justice for victims.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 19 March 2026.

Thousands more criminals will be tagged alongside changes to supervision that will focus probation time on the offenders who pose the greatest risk.

• Live surveillance part of £100m tagging expansion for domestic abusers & thieves
• Tougher supervision and increased monitoring for the most dangerous offenders
• Additional 1,300 probation officers to be recruited to help cut crime

Dangerous criminals will be live tracked using real-time surveillance and receive more intense supervision as part of a greater focus on the most high-risk offenders. 

The biggest expansion of tagging in British history will mean thousands of extra domestic abusers, thieves and burglars across the country will face tough GPS and alcohol monitoring in a major £100 million crackdown on crime.

Frontline probation staff will also be given access to cutting-edge technology allowing instant access to the location of certain tagged offenders, which will help to identify escalating risk and allow for earlier interventions.

In a boost for victims, a £5 million pilot will introduce proximity monitoring technology that creates an alert when offenders convicted of crimes such as domestic abuse and stalking approach their victim – a key commitment from the Government’s landmark strategy to end violence against women and girls.

These changes are backed by an investment in probation of up to £700 million by 2028/29, which includes the recruitment of at least 1,300 extra probation officers in the next year, and will help ensure tougher monitoring of violent offenders to better keep the public safe. 

To further increase public protection and cut crime, a reinforced probation workforce will focus more of their time on prolific offenders and ramp up the face-to-face monitoring of those who pose the biggest risk to the public – such as terrorists, murderers and prolific sex offenders.

Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, said:    

This is the biggest expansion of tagging in British history and means the most dangerous offenders will now be watched more closely than ever before. 

By combining new technology with a stronger probation workforce, we’re making sure those who pose the biggest risk are under constant scrutiny to better protect victims and the public.

This Government has been clear that the crisis it inherited in the Probation Service has placed too great a burden on hardworking staff, with new statistics showing that, between 2023 and 2025, 31% of target probation appointments did not take place due to unmanageable workloads. 

This has meant officers have been unable to pay enough attention to those offenders who pose the greatest risk.  

Under the new approach, supervision will be better targeted so officers can focus their time on the most dangerous offenders, while those assessed as lower-risk will require fewer routine appointments. 

These reforms will enable overworked probation staff to focus on the parts of their job that has the greatest impact on public protection and will unburden them from tasks that are less impactful when it comes to protecting the public. 

A further £8 million is also being invested in new technology to reduce time-consuming admin tasks and save up to 250,000 days of valuable time every year, allowing frontline staff to spend more time monitoring offenders and keeping our streets safe. 

Chief Inspector of Probation Martin Jones said:

I welcome the Government’s plans for further investment in the Probation Service, and attempts to focus time and resources where they matter most.

I have been clear that urgent action is needed to support a service that is currently facing significant challenge, with too few staff, who have too little experience, managing too many cases.

We are entering a crucial period as the implementation of the Sentencing Act reforms begins. There must be a sharp focus on ensuring the Probation Service can recruit, train, and retain sufficient staff, and give them the tools and support they need – both to keep the public and victims safe, and to turn offenders’ lives around.

As part of the Government’s Plan for Change to make streets safer, tens of thousands more criminals will be tagged over the next three years as part of a major technology expansion. 

The Government is also introducing, for the first time, a presumption that all prison leavers will be tagged on release as part of intensive supervision with the Probation Service keeping a closer eye on offenders’ behaviour. 

Meanwhile, a pilot that tags domestic abusers who pose a threat to a former partner, family member or their children after leaving prison will be rolled out nationally. 

A report found overwhelming support for the scheme from probation staff, with 83% stating it gave victims peace of mind and more than three-quarters saying it would better protect them. 

A separate pilot, in which convicted burglars and thieves are forced to wear a GPS tag so their movements can be tracked against unsolved crimes will also be rolled out across the country. 

Evidence is increasingly proving the effectiveness of tags in cutting crime. Published research shows GPS and curfew tags can reduce reoffending by around 20%, and alcohol monitoring orders have compliance rates above 97%. 

Notes to editors: 

• The Domestic Abuse Perpetrators on Licence (DAPOL) pilot has tracked hundreds of prison leavers who pose a threat to a former partner or their children, with the tags serving as a constant physical reminder to offenders that we are watching their every move. It is currently live in eight probation regions and will be rolled out to all twelve across England and Wales by September 2026. 
• The Acquisitive Crime scheme sees burglars and thieves forced to wear a GPS tag after their release from prison. Their location data is then mapped against unsolved crimes, serving as a strong deterrent to reoffending. The pilot is currently live in 19 police force areas and will be gradually rolled out to all 43 before the end of this Parliament. 
• The Government is investing £5 million to pilot proximity monitoring within this Parliament, as committed to in the Government’s 10-year Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. This new technology – used to different extents internationally in Spain, the Netherlands, and Australia – enables probation to know if the offender comes within a preset distance of a victim. This represents a further powerful tool for managing risk in high-harm domestic abuse cases. 
• The new Electronic Monitoring Data Insights tool will provide probation staff with quick access to electronic monitoring and behavioural information. Timely sharing of behaviour patterns – such as licence condition violations – will help staff make better decisions and support rehabilitation through earlier interventions, while easing their workload by replacing inefficient data collection processes. A small pilot will start in June 2026, and we aim to fully rollout by Autumn 2026  
• The Government will further strengthen the Probation Service by recruiting an additional 1,300 trainee probation officers across 2026/27 — on top of the 2,300 already pledged to be brought in since 2024 — in a major drive to crackdown on crime. 
• This will be supported by an increase in probation funding by up £700 million by 2028/29, which includes £100 million for the expansion of tagging, of which £5 million will fund the pilot of proximity monitoring.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 11 February 2026.

Every child caught carrying a knife in England and Wales will be given a mandatory targeted plan to stop them reoffending and protect the public.

• Every child caught carrying a knife in England and Wales will be given a mandatory targeted plan to stop them reoffending
• £320 million invested into Youth Justice Services to turn young people away from a life of crime
• Delivers on Government’s commitment to halve knife crime within a decade and make streets safer as part of its Plan for Change

Children will be given earlier, more targeted support to steer them away from crime under plans to drive down knife carrying among young people, the Deputy Prime Minister has announced today.

The action, led jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office, reflects the Government’s determination to halve knife crime in a decade and confront youth violence with a strong, coordinated national response.

Every child in England and Wales caught carrying a knife will be given a mandatory specialised plans to stop them reoffending, part of the Government’s commitment to halve knife crime within a decade. 

Meeting a manifesto pledge, police will refer every child knife possession case to Youth Justice Services – locally-led teams spanning health, education and community services tasked with mandating targeted action to help each child. 

These specialised plans will address the root causes of a child’s offending, including potential exploitation by criminal gangs and childhood trauma, and could be forced to attend mentoring to stay in education or social skills training to boost employability. This will give children the foundations they need to turn their backs on crime and keep our streets safe.  

These plans will be mandatory, with no child able to avoid the getting the support they need. Youth Justice services will intensively monitor the child’s progress and if they do not engage with their plan or are judged to still be of risk to the public, the police will immediately be informed and further action taken. Failure to engage will have serious consequences, such as possible criminal charges and time behind bars. The plans will be monitored and implemented, as will the young person’s progress, reassuring the public that they are going to have an impact.

Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy said:

Every life lost to knife crime is an unmitigated tragedy. With early targeted action, we can put children on the right path to a positive future and stop them falling into a toxic cycle of reoffending.  

Our reforms will give local services the security they need to help more young people and make our streets safer for everyone.

The plans announced today will be backed up with a first of its kind three-year wider funding package for Youth Justice Services, worth over £320 million, giving them more certainty to invest in the future, and roll out longer-term programmes to help even more young people.  

Evidence demonstrates that prevention schemes can have a real difference in helping young people turn their lives away from crime, with more than 90% of children who engaged with the government’s Turnaround programme avoiding future police cautions or court.

To continue this work, the government has also confirmed that the Turnaround programme will have guaranteed multi-year funding, including over £15 million this year. This will give the programme the stability to support even more children and stop them ever committing crime.

The Government will also invest a further £5 million into regional partnerships to speed up community alternatives to custodial remand. Currently, around 40 per cent of children in custody are on remand, with more than 60 per cent later not receiving a custodial sentence – unnecessarily impacting their lives and futures. 

The Home Office is also working closely with policing leaders to ensure that these interventions are supported by strong enforcement and rapid action when knives are found on our streets, strengthening the wider national effort to reduce youth violence.

Policing Minister, Sarah Jones said:

Carrying a knife will now trigger an immediate, mandatory intervention — no excuses.

This guidance makes sure every child is referred straight to a Youth Justice Services team and is given the support needed to change course.

As Policing Minister, I am working with forces across England and Wales to ensure officers have the full backing of the Home Office to crack down on knife possession, act quickly when knives are found, and prevent violence before it happens.

We’re acting fast to stop violence before it starts and keep our streets safe.

Pooja Kanda, knife crime campaigner and mother of victim Ronan Kanda said:

This is a great initiative from the government and is exactly what we need: a proper plan. We must not let youths who are caught with a knife be left isolated, with no support and crying out for help. I believe this plan would have stopped my son’s attacker from re-offending and eventually taking my son’s life. We must guide young people away from using knives. I am fully behind this initiative, and the government’s overall mission to halve knife crime in a decade.

Patrick Green, CEO of The Ben Kinsella Trust said:

It is vital that responses to serious youth violence are adequately resourced and recognise the realities that many vulnerable children and young people face. We welcome the focus on earlier, coordinated support for children and young people found carrying knives, and the commitment to timely, tailored interventions that prioritise safeguarding and rehabilitation over further criminalisation.

Too often, children and young people are drawn into serious violence by entrenched vulnerabilities and systemic pressures such as fear, trauma, and criminal exploitation. A sustained focus on early intervention and prevention is essential and represents an important step towards tackling the root causes of knife crime.

Today’s announcement is the latest step in the Government’s pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, building on our wider work including taking thousands of knives off our streets and our County Lines Programme which saw record numbers of gang leaders charged last year. This complements broader Home Office‑led efforts to tackle the online sale of knives and coordinate national enforcement through the knife crime coordination centre.

It also marks the first stage of the most significant overhaul of youth justice in a generation, making sure it is modern and better responds to children’s needs. This work comes alongside the first steps of fundamental reforms to the Youth Justice Board, following a government-wide efficiency review, which will see it take a renewed focus on supporting frontline workers.

Further information

• This Government have set an ambitious but essential target: to halve knife crime over this decade. We are already making tangible progress, since the start of this Parliament: 
• Knife crime has fallen by 8%, meaning 4,229 fewer offences. 
• Knife homicides are down by 27%. 
• Hospital admissions for stabbings have fallen by 11%.
• We have banned dangerous weapons such as ninja swords and zombie style machetes. 
• And we have taken nearly 60,000 knives off our streets.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 3 February 2026.

HMP Northumberland will gain four new houseblocks, boosting its capacity by 240 places, in the latest Government step to make streets safer.

• Four new houseblocks under construction at HMP Northumberland.  
• New workshop with six classrooms to steer prisoners away from crime. 
• Latest milestone in Government’s plans to build 14,000 prison places by 2031, as part of the Plan for Change  

The new cells will be fully operational by 2027 and help ensure there is always enough space for dangerous offenders.

The major project will also include the construction of a new workshop containing six classrooms and industry areas – delivering punishment that cuts crime by giving prisoners the skills they need to stop reoffending. 

Today’s news is a significant milestone in the Government’s aims to build 14,000 additional prison places by 2031 – with around 2,900 of these having already been built since July 2024.  

Minister for Prisons, Probation, and Reducing Reoffending, Lord James Timpson said: 

We inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse, and have wasted no time getting shovels in the ground to fix this – with 2,900 new prison places already opened – which also creates jobs for communities like those in the North East.  

Alongside sentencing reform, this will create prisons that cut crime, reduce reoffending, and ensure there are fewer victims in the future.

The build will also create jobs in the North East, with around 70 new permanent roles expected at the prison once the houseblocks are complete.    

The project is being delivered by Kier, a leading provider of infrastructure services, construction and property developments.  
  
The construction follows the opening of the around 1,500-capacity prison in Yorkshire, HMP Millsike, last year. The Government is investing £4.7 billion to deliver these prison builds, whilst investing £500 million over two years in prison and probation service maintenance to improve conditions across the estate.  The prison building programme will work alongside sentencing reform, to ensure there is always a cell to lock up the most dangerous offenders. 

Background  

• The Government is investing £4.7 billion to deliver these prison builds over this spending review period (2026/27 – 2029/30).

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 3 February 2026.

Dangerous extremists will face tougher ‘supermax’ style restrictions behind bars under Government plans to keep frontline staff safer.

‘Supermax’ style restrictions for the most dangerous prisoners

Reforms to protect decisions from litigation and limit payouts to terrorists

Overhaul of separation centres to tackle terror threat behind bars

Updating Parliament today (3 February), the Deputy Prime Minister set out a major overhaul of separation centres to better tackle the unique threat terror offenders pose. This includes exploring ‘supermax’ style controls on the most violent and extreme prisoners, improving how intelligence is collected and used, and reforms to better protect against litigation and limit perverse payouts to terrorists.

The intervention follows the publication of Jonathan Hall KC’s independent review of separation centres, launched in the wake of the horrific attack on staff at HMP Frankland last year. The Government has today published its response, accepting Mr Hall’s recommendations in full and in some areas going further to improve staff safety, bolster the operation of separation centres, and address the growing complexity of radicalised individuals in custody. Key measures include:

A commitment to create a new tiered separation centre system, with the most dangerous extremists facing stricter conditions.

An expert-led review of training for staff working in these units, to ensure it is tailored to the uniquely dangerous environments in which they work.

Strengthening internal processes and considering whether new legislation is required to better protect decisions taken by experienced staff in separation centres from litigation on Article 8 grounds.

Further improving intelligence collection practices to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and ensure intelligence directly informs operational decisions.

This builds on recent Government action to boost protections for officers working in the high-risk settings, investing £15 million into safety equipment including 10,000 stab-proof vests and rolling out Tasers to 500 staff.

Speaking in the House of Commons today, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said:
The horrific attack at HMP Frankland was a stark reminder of the dangers our prison staff face every day…Mr Hall’s review makes serious and wide-reaching recommendations, and our response will be decisive and determined.

Taken together, they will strengthen security, better protect our brave prison staff and reinforce the resilience of our counter-terrorism infrastructure within the estate.

This Government will always stand behind those who stand between the public and danger. We will not shy away from reform and we will never lose sight of our first duty: to keep the British public safe.

Separation centres were created in 2017 to isolate the most pernicious and influential extremist offenders from the mainstream population where they could spread their dangerous ideologies and radicalise others.

The new measures announced today include the commitment to redesign this model, with the creation of tiered separation centres – placing the most violent and disruptive extremists in higher-control conditions inspired by tough restrictions seen in ‘Supermax’ prisons in the United States. Movement between the tiers will only be possible following rigorous risk assessments. Further details will be set out in due course.

The Government is also acting to safeguard separation centre decisions from legal challenges, ensuring staff can focus on managing risk and protecting the public. This includes revising policy to make clear equivalence with the main regime is not required and establishing a new dedicated expert team responsible for drafting and analysing prisoner referrals to the units.

Crucially, as recommended by Mr Hall, this also includes looking at whether new legislation is required to limit the impact of litigation brought on European Convention of Human Rights Article 8 grounds. While the Government remains committed to the Convention, it will explore the full range of options to better protect staff managing terrorists and other dangerous offenders.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 3 February 2026.

The Secretary of State for Justice has announced the appointment of Rehana Azam as member of the Prison Service Pay Review Body.

The Secretary of State for Justice has announced the appointment of Rehana Azam as the member of the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) with Trade Union experience. Rehana Azam’s appointment will be for a tenure of 5 years from 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2031.

The PSPRB provides the government with independent advice on the remuneration of operational prison staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as set out in the Prison Service Pay Review Body Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No. 1161).   

Appointments to the PSPRB are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments. This appointment has been made in line with the Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.

Public appointments to the PSPRB are made by the Prime Minister.

Biography

Ms Azam is a senior trade union leader with over 30 years’ experience advising and representing public sector workforces. She is currently Regional Head at the National Association of Head Teachers, a role she has held since 2023. She previously spent 24 years at GMB, holding a range of senior regional and national positions. In 2025, she was seconded to the British Airline Pilots Association as Head of Industrial Relations and has also served as a National Officer with the Royal College of Nursing (2022–2023).